Bloggers Unite for Human Rights May 15th...

2008 is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations.

The Every Human has Rights campaign has been initiated by The Gobal Elders (a.o. Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan, Muhammad Yunus, Mary Robinson and Aung San Suu Kyi) and partners to empower global citizens to protect the first-ever comprehensive agreement on human rights among nations. Please read and sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Make your personal pledge to live your life by its principles.

Our world never need your help more than it does right now!

later man, jan

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander...

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is ready to end its long journey and begin a three-month mission to taste and sniff fistfuls of Martian soil and buried ice. The lander is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet May 25.

later man, jan

Hope to the Hopeless...

There is a new children's book on the market. One Hen is based on the true story of Kwabena Darko - a fatherless child living in Ghana in West Africa who starts on the road to success with a microloan. See the full story here

Here is an excerpt from 'One Hen'
by Katie Smith Milway

"Kojo's idea is to buy a hen. He and his mother will eat some of the eggs it lays and sell the rest at the market. There is a farmer in a neighboring village with many hens, and Kojo will ask to buy one.

It takes Kojo two hours to walk to the chicken farm. By the time he arrives, he is hot and dusty. He wonders how he will know which hen to choose. There are so many!

Kojo tries to look over all the chickens. A white one pecks the ground near his foot. Should he choose this hen? A speckled one flaps her wings and clucks. Perhaps she is the one? All at once Kojo spies a plump brown hen with a bright red comb sitting in her nest and puffing out her feathers. She looks as if she would enjoy laying eggs. Now he doesn't have to think: he knows in his heart that she is the one.

Kojo pays for the brown hen and puts her in a wicker basket. He gently covers the hen with a cloth and lifts the basket onto his head. As he walks home, he dreams about the future and he sees a lot of eggs in it — eggs to eat and, if he is lucky, eggs that he can sell to buy more hens."

Selection from One Hen by Katie Smith Milway and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes reprinted by permission of Kids Can Press Ltd., Toronto. Text copyright (c) 2008 Katie Smith Milway. Illustrations copyright (c) 2008 Eugenie Fernandes.

You could be one of the lenders to someone like Kojo... check out Kiva

later man, jan

Going to Peru???

Anyone travelling to Peru should look up this lady... Señora Bertha Paredes Tandaypan...She decided to prepare stuffed potatoes in the afternoons, at the beginning selling them from house to house. As time passed and she became better known, people started to come to her house to buy the prepared food.

A blog search for recipes found this "Papa rellena with aji verde and pickled onions. This potato fritter is filled with picadillo (garlic and onion spiked ground beef) with one or two raisins, an olive or two, and half of a hard boiled egg."

later man, jan

Yep - Somedays I feel like the Squirrel...

Trees For the Future will Plant a Tree - or 2 - or more...

Here's an interesting site - the more you play - the more trees they plant. For every 10 questions you answer correctly, Trees For The Future will plant a tree.

How much do you know about caring for the environment...

How many questions can you answer correctly... go to JogoGreen.com and give it a try!

later man, jan

Send your Name to the Moon...

Got this from the Planetary Society website I follow...

"NASA invites people of all ages to join the lunar exploration journey with an opportunity to send their names to the Moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft.

The Send Your Name to the Moon website enables everyone to participate in the lunar adventure and place their names in orbit around the Moon for years to come. At the site, participants can submit their information and print a certificate. The database of names will be placed on a microchip that will be integrated onto the spacecraft. The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008.

"Everyone who sends their name to the Moon, like I'm doing, becomes part of the next wave of lunar explorers," said Cathy Peddie, deputy project manager for LRO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "The LRO mission is the first step in NASA's plans to return humans to the moon by 2020, and your name can reach there first. How cool is that?"

well - I think this is 'way cool :) and I have already submitted for Peter and Morgan and printed certificates for them...

later man, jan

Baby Dropping Ritual...

There is a YouTube video going the rounds with no explanations and with comments turned off. We saw this on the news, and while I don't think we should go around dropping our babies, we also need a lot more information to claim wrongdoing. You can find the video with news commentary here.

I think we have enough Muslim bashing going on without adding one more reason... what do you think?

later man, jan

Aww Dave - get better soon...

Las Vegas...

How could I resist...
She's wearing a t-shirt that says Las Vegas and runs a flea market business selling used shoes in the City of Apia in Samoa (an island in the South Pacific). Elisapeta has 5 grown up children, with two of them working now, and three still in school. She is requesting a loan of $1000 which she will use to purchase 3-dozen shoes for her business and also iron roofing for her house. I can add my $25 to the pool - she still needs $775.
later man, jan